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10 January 2012

Father: Devin Juan Wilkes was arrested for trying to strangle his wife and throwing their baby on the ground

A mother who was being attacked by her boyfriend with a knife held up their one-year-old son to act as a human shield, police say.

Devin Juan Wilkes, 24, from Jacksonville, Florida, was beating his 22-year-old girlfriend with his fists before picking up a knife.

When Sheena Hunter grabbed their son in the hope he wouldn't attack his own child, Wilkes allegedly threw the baby face first on to the floor and continued to attack the victim.

He then allegedly yelled: 'You made me hit my son, now you're going to die' as he choked the woman.

He is now behind bars on $500,000 bail for the December 9 incident on charges of aggravated assault, child abuse, battery and felony domestic battery.

Police said the couple - who have been together two years - started arguing as Miss Hunter took a bath and Wilkes started punching her in the face.

When she ran to the bedroom he came after her with a knife and that is when she grabbed their son from his crib feeling he 'would not stab her if their child was in between them'.

After throwing the baby on the floor, Wilkes allegedly threw his girlfriend on the bed and choked her until the telephone rang.

'You made me hit my son, now you're going to die'

He then fled and Miss Hunter called police, according to the Florida Times Union.

Paramedics checked the baby, who did not require hospital treatment while the mother refused treatment.

On Monday, police found Wilkes hiding in the closet of the home and arrested him.

Duval County jail and court records show this is Wilkes' third domestic-violence arrest in three years. He served 16 days in jail in 2009 and got a year probation in 2008. Online records didn't indicate the name of the victim.